AIM Framework glossary
GDP Source-Blindness Corollary
Canonical definition
The GDP Source-Blindness Corollary is the corollary to the A-Default Confabulation Principle stating that any economic-measurement architecture denominated in Common Currency without source-decomposition at the per-transaction throughput rung of the Aggregation Gradient is structurally incapable of distinguishing A-output from PM-extraction on A-essentials, I-output from PM-extraction in the same sectors, or productive activity from parasitic extraction layered onto productive activity at that rung. Because the measure is source-blind at the rung at which it operates, and the discipline's A-default frames all monetary flow at that rung as A-provision plus a luxury residual, GDP and analogous per-transaction-throughput aggregates register PM-extraction as economic activity equivalent in kind to A-provision, with the consequence that headline aggregates can rise during periods of flourishing-erosion (housing crises, mental-health epidemics, rivalry-intensification on observability platforms) when the underlying source-composition is shifting from A-I-dominant to PM-dominant. The GDP Source-Blindness Corollary is qualified by the Aggregation-Concealment Independence Theorem and the Macro-Residue Visibility Principle, which establish that the source-decomposition becomes diagnosable at higher aggregation rungs through alternative population-scale statistics (markup concentration, A-Floor erosion indicators, Aggregate Net Mimetic Position divergence) even where per-transaction concealment is total.
Explanation
GDP, measured the way it currently is, counts every dollar the same. A dollar spent on food, a dollar spent on rent that is mostly PM-interest extraction, a dollar spent on a fast-fashion garment that produces flourishing-erosion in the wearer, and a dollar spent on a craft tool that supports decades of I-engagement are all identical to GDP at the transaction rung. This is why GDP can grow while housing becomes unaffordable, mental health collapses, and inequality widens: the per-transaction measure cannot tell that the additional dollars are PM-extraction rather than A-provision. What the GDP Source-Blindness Corollary does not say is that the source-decomposition is invisible everywhere. At higher aggregation rungs (the level of population-scale concentration statistics, A-Floor erosion indicators, Aggregate Net Mimetic Position divergence, and sectoral markup distributions), the cumulative signature of Unidirectional PM Flow is observable to third-party analysis even when per-transaction concealment is total, because the Aggregation-Concealment Independence Theorem establishes that the population-scale signature does not require dissecting individual transactions. A source-decomposed national account would supplement headline GDP with the four kinds of macro-residue statistic the Macro-Residue Visibility Principle specifies, making the divergence between monetary throughput and actual flourishing legible without requiring transaction-level source-tagging.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct. Derived from the A-Default Confabulation Principle, the Price Decomposition (P = PA + PI + P_M), the Aggregation Gradient, and the Aggregation-Concealment Independence Theorem.